Another baffling move by the FCC: According to a Reuters report, it will likely decide today that it’s not OK for phone companies like Verizon (VZ) to try to keep customers who are ditching their phone service for one offered by cable companies like Comcast (CMCSA) or Time Warner Cable (TWC).

What do we mean? When you switch phone service from Verizon to a cable company, Verizon gets an alert that their customer is about to ditch them. Verizon was using that information to make a last-minute “please don’t switch” pitch to its subs instead of just disconnecting them. Under the ruling, if Verizon wants to offer special retention deals, it would have to wait until subscribers have already switched their service over — and then try to win them back.

Huh? As long as Verizon isn’t using marketing as an excuse to delay disconnecting their customers’ phone lines, it seems fair that they should be at least allowed to counter any offers dangled by competitors. It sounds to us like the ruling will make it harder for consumers to negotiate better deals on phone service — which is the exact opposite of what the FCC should be pushing for.

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